Darkness
by Terranorth
Summary: It ended with the death of two children born worlds apart. It began with the meeting of two tortured souls cast out from the life's they once knew. Because for every ending there is also a beginning.
1. Chapter 1

Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell had never been a happy girl. She was born into nobility, surrounded by extravagant wealth and power. In a world where the average man had to work a 14-hour day just to scrap by, she never had to so much as lift a finger to get her every desire. Some would envy her very existence, but not Evangeline.

For all that her wealth and luxury afforded her, happiness was not one such commodity. Her parents were a non-existence in her life. Their marriage was, as most marriages in nobility one of convenience and pedigree, not love.

As a product of such a union, she was appreciated, but only as a means of continuing their own line, and perhaps for future alliances in marriage. She was after all a beautiful girl.

Even at the age of ten it was abundantly clear she would be stunning when she reached adulthood. He hair was a purest blonde, like spun-gold in the sunlight, her skin was a pale white, a sign of her high status of never having to work in the fields, and her eyes were a crystal blue that sparkled like clear water.

Yes, her parents were quite pleased with her. She would make such an excellent bride some day.

Evangeline was not happy, though surrounded by servants, she was alone, even though she was waited on hand and foot, no one ever really heard her, and though cared for by her parents and treated well, she was not loved.

Alone, she was so horribly, wretchedly alone, others may have envied her, but not she. She desired more than a live of nothing but empty smiles and unending boredom.

Yet, despite her desire for change, the way it came about was not what she desired. So, when she awoke on her tenth birthday to a fundamental feeling of wrongness, she felt a thrill of fear spike through her, when the sunlight streaming through her window, opened by a maid, burnt her pale skin and sent tremors of excruciating agony coursing through her she felt panic, and when her scream of pain tore through her throat, and her maid's eyes widened in surprise and fear for what would be the first of many times she saw that look, she felt only despair.

And so, at 8:32 A.M. on October 8th, on her 10th birthday, Evangeline A.K. McDowell became a Shinso.

And at 7:04 P.M. she left behind her previous home and life.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Cold

He felt so cold

For as long as he could remember he was always alone. His first memory was when he still lived at the orphanage, huddled in a too small room in the basement, crying himself to sleep, afraid.

He knew he was different. Everywhere he looked as he wondered through the streets showed him that. Whenever he saw other children they were so carefree, always smiling and laughing, having fun, and playing with their parents or friends.

He never had that. Other children naturally shied away from, hesitant to be in his company even before their parents pulled them away. They could tell something was off with him, even if they could not explain it.

When he would walk down a street hateful and frightened glares would follow him, whispered words just out of his hearing. He was alone, and at times it broke him.

Not everyone would glare at him, in fact; only a small percentage was ever so open with their animosity. He supposed he could have accepted their loathing, to know where they stood and have at least some small form of acknowledgment, even if only negative. No, what the majority of the townspeople treated him with was indifference, and that struck deeper then ever the most fiery hatred.

They would glance over him, as though he did not exist. Dismiss his presence as though his very existence offended them and they choose to instead ignore it.

He had never known the warmth of a mother's hug or the assurance of a father. He had never felt the joy of playing with a friend, or the simple pleasure of coming home knowing someone was waiting for him, cared about him.

He was alone.

And so he desperately sought out attention, from anyone in any form. He was loud, screaming and shouting his every thought so that people had to pay attention to him. He played outrageous pranks to the ire of the village if only so someone would come looking for him, even if it was only to punish him. He wore bright orange clothes so people could not over look him easily.

Despite that, despite everything, nothing ever changed. No matter how loud he shouted, no one ever heard him, No matter what he did, no really cared, and despite his fashionably offensive clothing, no one ever looked at him.

He always felt so cold.

So, on his tenth birthday, when a silent shadow crept into his room, a naked blade gleaming so brightly in the dark room of his apartment, and stabbed him in the gut, he felt no fear. Even when his blood began to pour out at an alarming rate and the pain overtook him, he did not panic, and when blackness darker even then his room began to overtake his vision he felt only relief.

'Finally,' he thought, 'finally I won't have to feel cold anymore.'

And so, at 11:31 P.M. on October 10th, 10 years after his birth, Naruto Uzumaki died.

. . . And at 11:32 P.M., he woke up.

_A.N. So I was reading some other fan fiction about an Eva/Naruto pairing, and frankly thought there was potential there. And despite the fact I have very little success with actually following through with my stories, I decided to give it a shot._


	2. Chapter 2

Kyuubi sat in its cage, silently waiting.

For centuries, the Kyuubi had been a boogey man to the world. Appearing sporadically throughout history with no rhyme or reason, leaving not but destruction and fire in its wake. Men trembled when hearing its name, entire peoples fell before its presence, and the entirety of humanity were as ants to its eyes, as it should be.

It was the Kyuubi, incarnation of wrath and malice given form. With a flick of one of its mighty tails it could level a mountain or raise a tsunami. It was first among its brethren, it was indomitable and unstoppable, a force of nature like the sun. Yet, for over 80 years it had been repeatedly caged and trapped inside humans, a humiliating and debasing situation for one such as it.

For 80 years it had been chained and brought to heel like some common animal, and its hatred grew.

The Kyuubi, like all Bijuu, is merely a dark reflection of humanity. Each Bijuu represents some faucet of mankind and draws its mighty power from them. The Bijuu were a symptom of humanity's sickness. They are the darkness hidden in each man's heart given life and form, and the Kyuubi governed over man's hatred and rage. The raw power the Kyuubi had at its disposal before its imprisonment was fearsome. Contained in its body was enough energy to vaporize entire lands, its mere presence caused distortions in time and space, which may contribute to its sporadic appearances in history. And, as it waited in its cage, surrounded by darkness, its power grew as its anger did and its anger grew as time went on. The seal on Naruto's body, designed to trap and imprison even the Bijuu, was reaching its limit. More and more of the Kyuubi's power was allowed to leak out, as the seal desperately sought to release some of the pressure less it fracture fatally. Pure, unfiltered yoki flowed through Naruto's chakra channels continuously since his birth. By the time of Naruto's death he was no longer human, but neither was he a demon, he was something singularly new and unique. Not even a hanyou of legend, that rare and cursed creature, outcast of both societies. He was Naruto Uzumaki, and his time had yet to come.

When, suddenly, the darkness in its cage began to spread, and the blackness of death encroached on it, the Kyuubi knew what was coming, and resisted. Roaring its defiance to the gods and its captors, the Kyuubi brought its nigh immeasurable power to bear on the seal, focusing its continuously growing anger on that one small, fragile piece of paper locking it away. And, as the Kyuubi roared, the fabric of the world screamed. Space and time twisted inwards on itself, the raw energy of the Kyuubi in such a small space being far too powerful to resist, and, in one last desperate push, just before the Kyuubi destroyed itself and its cage in a last act of mutually assured destruction, reality fell apart and was torn asunder, and Naruto fell into the space between space. When the sudden influx of yoki repaired and reanimated him, completely and finally changing him on the most fundamental level, Naruto opened his eyes in a world not his own.

XXXXXXXX

Two days. It had been two days since her world had fell apart in her hands, since everyone she had ever known had betrayed her in fear and disgust, since every constant in her life had been ripped from her hands. She had wanted freedom, she had wanted change, and fate, it seemed, cruel as ever, had decided to deliver.

She was cursed, cursed to wander the Earth forever in the body of a child, a monster in the guise of innocence. She knew what she was, the screaming accusations thrown at her at her old home were impossible to ignore: Vampire, Cursed one, Forsaken of God, whispered fears from the east of unholy monsters that feed on the blood of man.

She knew what she was, what she did not know is why. Why had she become this cursed creature? Why was she a vampire? Why did the sunlight burn her pale skin? Why were her eyes a glowing red? Why? Why?

So many unanswered questions, but now was not the time for answers, now was the time for survival.

She had fled from her old home; she held no illusions of what would have happened had she stayed. She was a monster now; she deserved the fate of monsters. Death. She knew that, she knew she should have died, but she couldn't bring herself to accept that. Despite this curse, it was also a chance, a chance to live. She was desperate enough to grab onto that.

So she fled when night fell, when her kind rule.

But as she sprinted with unnatural swiftness across the darkened hills and fields of Ireland, she felt uncertainty. Despite her recent transformation, in mind she was still only a child, a lost and scared little girl, searching for comfort in a cruel uncaring world, trying to make sense of an incomprehensible turn of events. Even though she was a creature of the night, the darkness still terrified her. It was the small sounds that filled the air: the snapping of a branch, the rustling of the leaves, and the movement out of the corner of her eye. Her enhanced senses did not assuage her fears, merely amplified them.

There is a reason man fears to stray outside in the dark. A deep-seated fear that even centuries of domestication and civilization cannot breed out completely.

The reason is simple really; there are things that go bump in the night, despite how much we wish to believe otherwise. There are monsters under our bed, and demons lurking in the woods. They are inhuman creatures, simple beings of never-ending hunger and anger, animals and beasts. They are, however, only a small part of our fear. To be mauled and attacked by animals is one thing, terrifying if experienced, but understood easily: you are the food and they are the predator. Unsettling yes, but mysterious, no.

Animals and lower-level demons are simple, man, however, is not. Mankind is capable of greater cruelties than even demons. It is man who rages war against one another. It is man who rapes and pillages his own kind. It is man who man least understands and most fears. There are monsters that dwell in the forests and hide under our beds, but we need look no farther than our mirrors to discover who they are.

And so, when Evangeline accidently stumbled into a camp of waiting highwaymen across a path between towns at 11:07 P.M., she finally discovered the monsters that go bump in the night.

XXXXXXXX

For a moment, absolute silence reigned between them. On one side of the road, hidden in the shadows of the road was a scraggly bunch of men. There were six in total each one unsavory looking. Their clothes were coarse and dirty, most likely from a hard days travel. Their faces were covered with a few days worth of beard growth and covered in filth. They had what appeared to be several daggers and axes on their person, each one cheaply made and poorly maintained. It was understandable, though a main throughway for the villages; the path was not well traveled, especially at night. Pickings were most likely slim.

On the other side of the road, frozen like a startled deer, stood Evangeline. The two days of travel and terror had not been kind on her. Though her body was now far superior to that of a human's, two days of constant travel, no food, and little sleep did nothing to help her. Her once straight and glorious hair was not matted down and entangled with leaves, dirt, and branches. Her delicate clothing had long since been torn off her, leaving her in her undergarments, which were also in the process of being removed. But it was the eyes that most differed from her past appearance, those two glowing red eyes, the eyes of a monster.

But, just as suddenly as the silence came, it also went.

"Well," came a raspy, somewhat grating voice from a particularly large man, most likely the leader by his posture, "what do we have here gentlemen? A little runaway perhaps, hmm?"

He paused for a moment, taking in her appearance as he slowly walked towards the still frozen girl.

"But what to do? A little girl wandering alone in the woods, who knows what sort of unsavory animals she could run into?"

A chilling chorus of laughs filled the air, as the remaining men chuckled at their leaders attempt at humor.

"As gentlemen," the man continued, now steadily advancing on the girl, a somewhat disturbing gleam entering his eye, "we have to take care of a damsel in distress now don't we?"

Now standing fully in front of Evangeline, he towered over her by nearly two feet. The contrast was rather startling. As the unnamed man slowly reached out, and roughly grasped her thin, frail-looking arm, Evangeline was finally jarred out of her shock.

Now, Evangeline was already unused to physical contact. Before, in her previous life, she had precious little physical interaction with other humans save her attendants, who would never touch her unless necessary, which was infrequent. So, when a strange, dirty man grabbed her arm, combined with her rather thin nerves from two days on the run, her natural inclination was to strike out blindly at him. Generally this wouldn't accomplish much other than annoy or amuse her new captor, but Evangeline was no longer an average 10-year-old noble girl. She was a Shinso, and though newly born, her physical capabilities alone far exceed even the strongest and most well trained of men. Therefore, when her deceptively small fist of her free arm connected with the older man's midriff, a rather interesting reaction occur. It was crushed.

The force behind the blow was so great, that upon contact, the man's entire left side ribcage was shattered, causing small fragments of bone to radiate outwards puncturing his liver, pancreas, small intestine, stomach, lungs, and heart. His body immediately went into shock from the massive damage and pain his nerves were sending to his brain, before being lifted bodily off his feet, flying backwards several yards, and landing in a barely gasping heap. He would be dead within the minute.

Another moment of silence fell on the group, as everyone stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

"Wha . . . WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" yelled the panicked voice of one the men, as the leader let out a final labored gasp before falling silent for the rest of time.

Evangeline merely looked, almost detachedly, at her innocuous fist. Only a small smear of blood on the knuckles betrayed the act of prodigious strength she had just achieved. Absentmindedly, her mind still mostly in shock at what had just happened, she slowly licked the blood off her fist, a small unconscious smile appearing on her face, as though she had just eaten a particularly delicious meal.

The men followed her actions with a growing sense of apprehension and fear. Evangeline slowly looked up, her eyes glowing a devilish red, before clouding over with hunger. She bared her new fangs at the ones that sought to capture her, before lunging at them, her mouth opened ravenously as two days of fasting caught up with her.

And so, amidst the screams of terror and pain that rose up in the night on a deserted crossroads in the middle of the forest, Evangeline learned she too was now a monster that went bump in the night. It was lesson she never forgot.

XXXXXXXXXX

Stumbling once more into the forests, Evangeline's mind was mostly in shock at the act she had just performed. Six men, she had just killed six men and drained them of their life's blood because she was hungry. And what's more, she had enjoyed it. She had liked the feeling of their hot, tangy blood flowing into her parched mouth, she was amused at how pathetically they struggled to remove her smaller body from them, their frantic efforts growing weaker and less coherent with each second, and she had enjoyed hunting down her prey as they tried to escape from her hunger. It was all so surreal, so . . . inhuman.

The thought hit her harder than any blow she had dealt tonight. Inhuman, vampire, monster.

"Yes, that's right," she murmured to the darkness around her, "I'm not human anymore."

She curled up on the dirt, grabbing hold of her legs and pulling them towards her chest. She was alone again, she realized. Whereas before she was alone in a cold household, now . . . now she was completely and utterly isolated. Before at least she still had parents and other nobles who would occasionally visit, and maids who looked after her and talked to her when she asked something of them. Now she had nothing, and no hope of having anything. She was a monster; she had no place among humans. The act she had performed not 5 minutes before was proof of that. For the first time since her change, Evangeline cried. She was alone, and it broke her heart.

It just so happened however, that at that exact moment, it became 11:32 P.M. on October 10th, 1343, and from then on Evangeline's life would change forever.

When it happened, there was no bright flash of light, or tremendous explosion of sound and power. None of the grass in the area was scorched, and no tree was damaged. There was no falling star or momentous astrological event that marked its passing, merely one moment Evangeline was alone, and the next she was not.

And when the small blood soaked boy gasped for breath, and opened his scarlet eyes, he found an identical pair gazing into his.

And so, Naruto Uzumaki met Evangeline A.K. McDowell for the first time.

_A.N. I have no idea how I was able to produce this so quickly. But I will be busy for a week maybe a little longer; so don't expect a repeat performance._


	3. Chapter 3

_A.N. Wow, this took longer than I thought it would. At first it was just because I wanted to write a longer chapter than my previous ones, but then interruptions kept coming up. First it was my job, then a surprise family reunion, surprise for me at least, in a log cabin. I kid you not, a real log cabin in the middle of the woods in northern Canada, lovely weather and all, but absolutely no internet, so no progress that week, then school started again, so off to college I returned, and finally writer's block, my greatest foe. Sigh, things never go as planned do they? Anyway._

_I need to get this off my chest: I do not know Japanese, at all, and I certainly don't trust online translators enough to use them, at least not for sentences. Any attempt I could make would be insulting to the language and the readers. Therefore I shall not even try to write anything in said language. If you have a complaint because of this, well, I'm not really sure what to do about it._

"**Hello" **= Japanese

"Hello" = Middle English

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite what all the cynical, world-weary realists and pessimistic psychologists may say to the contrary, there is such a thing as love at first sight. It is the forging of a powerful connection that can last a lifetime with but a moment's glance, it is the ability to know and understand another person on the most fundamental of levels only by looking into their eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but that is incorrect, they are in fact the doors, and someone with a matching set of keys can get in.

When the right person locks gazes with you, when you feel a subtle thrill run through your body, a gentle caress as soothing as it is stimulating, and you know, know deep down, through processes you cannot comprehend, that you love them and will always love them. Soul mates.

The process is uncommon, understandably so. The soul of a person is complex, it is everything that we were, are, and will be. It is the spark of the divine that lives within all self-aware beings, a remnant of the fires of creation that still burns within us. The gift to truly know the soul of another, to understand the subtlety and nuances of all that a person is or can be, is rare. After all, a man can so rarely even understand his own desires and motives, much less his soul.

It is magic, at its most basic, least understood, level. This is not the bending of the elements to man's will, the imposing of our logic upon the world, or even the enforcing of our dominance and ownership onto the land, as other magic's are. After all, who can own a soul? Who can twist it and bend it on a whim? A man's soul is his own, no matter what others might believe. Soul mates do not force their will on another; they do not change them, or shape them so they might mesh better. They accept them completely. Everything that they are they accept, rejoice in, and welcome into their hearts. It is a union, blessed, sacred, and beautiful.

Unfortunately, when Naruto met Evangeline it was not one of those times.

So, when Naruto looked into those scarlet, inhuman eyes that bore into his, he did not feel a thrill of understanding or completion, tender love did not blossom in his hardened heart, only confusion, and perhaps a touch of fear for the being that stood in front of him.

Now some people would be hesitant if they found themselves in an unfamiliar environment in the company of a complete stranger with no idea how one got there or how to get back home. Some people would step back for a moment, analyze the situation carefully, look for any clues or markers that could be of help to them, and try to find some recognizable ground to stand on before they proceeded forward, carefully. This takes patience, forethought, and intelligence, qualities Naruto, unfortunately, rarely exercised.

It may come as no surprise then, to those aware of Naruto's fallback personality, that the first course of action he decided upon was the following:

Abruptly standing up, pointing rather grandiosely and rudely at Evangeline, and shouting, "**WHO ARE YOU?**" while gesticulating wildly with his unoccupied arm.

Evangeline, however, perhaps fortunately, was not paying attention to Naruto and his eccentricities, at least not wholly. Her sole focus lay on his eyes, his red eyes the color of fresh blood. She had only seen eyes like his once before, her own. No human had eyes like that. They were the eyes of a monster, like hers were; they were the eyes of the damned, like hers were; they were the eyes of a Vampire, like hers were. For a moment, the entirety of Evangeline's world lay focused on those two small points of crimson.

Vampirism behaves remarkably like certain types of viruses, such as HIV, unflattering but true. A carrier of the curse is relatively harmless to the general public, in terms of spreading the affliction at least. Physical contact, breathing on, spitting on, or even the biting of someone by an infected person will not turn one into a vampire. To become a vampire, one must either ingest or inject vampiric blood into the body of a human. And while the process for creating a Shinso is a little more complicated and involved than that of a regular vampire, the need of another Shinso is still required.

Evangeline knew this. Vampirism was a plague upon the land, to allow even one to live is to invite more to come. It is why vampires are so feared and hated. It is why they are exterminated without mercy and without pity; to do otherwise is to invite disaster. Even one vampire, by itself, can restart an entire coven.

It all boiled down to one fact in Evangeline's mind, to create a vampire another vampire is needed, and she had just found another vampire.

The moment Evangeline equated the boy in front of her with vampire, the basis of her pain, the cause of her family's betrayal, and the source of her curse, all logical thought processes shut down, any feelings of loneliness and self-pity were pushed back, and the dark, ancient, reptilian part of her brain took over. Only one thought ran through her consciousness before rage overtook her completely: Kill him.

KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!

With an animalistic snarl, her eyes glowing a devilish red once more, she leapt at him, fully intending to tear the flesh from his body, and spill his unholy blood onto the cold, unforgiving ground.

XXXXXXX

Martial arts are frequently looked upon as a rather dignified, clean sport. The fighting is clear-cut, and in short bouts that allow for resting; blows have to be legal and non-threatening. Medical aide is always on standby and ready to treat any wounds or injuries. Generally, it is a rather nice way to civilize fights and violence in a more peaceful society.

A real fight, though, is an entirely different beast then a match in the ring. A real fight is brutal, vicious, and primal. There are no techniques, no honor, and no time for thinking or queasiness. You fight back however you can with whatever you have, or you lie down and die.

So Naruto fought.

It was only instinct and reflexes, far sharper and faster than any human's could possible be, that saved Naruto from having his throat ripped out as he clumsily stumbled out of the way of Evangeline's swipe, a small gash made by the girls razor sharp nails carving a line across his shoulder, showed he was still slightly too slow.

Naruto did not fall into shock when he became aware of the sudden attempt on his life, he did not stumble about in confusion at her attack, nor did he pause to question his impromptu opponent, he couldn't, there was simply no time for it, and his new body was wired for battle, lusted for it.

Therefore, after his initial faltering dodge, and the reality that he could actually die, Naruto quickly switched into fight mode. His blood raced through his body, feeding excess oxygen to his major muscle groups, super-charging them in preparation of intense physical activity. Non-vital systems, such as digestion, shut down temporarily, so more nutrients and energy could be diverted elsewhere. His perception of the world sped up, each and every movement now crawling along at as snail's pace, while his eyes dilated allowing as much light as possible in for study and analysis.

So Naruto was able to notice when, after her initial failure, the girl tensed her legs, almost imperceptibly, to start another leap. He was prepared, therefore, when she lunged, his keen eyes tracking her lithe form that would have been but a blur to a normal human, and he acted quickly, turning his body slightly to the side, letting the girl soar past him, her unexpected miss causing her to land awkwardly on her feet, distracting her, and putting her temporarily in his mercy.

Fights, however, allow for no mercy, and Naruto, now firmly in the grip of fight-or-flight, gave no quarter.

He quickly sprinted forward, tackling the girl to the ground brutally, his heavier frame crushing her frail form into the cold dirt. Normally Naruto would have paused here, checking to make sure he did not injure his opponent too badly from his reckless assault. But this was not a spar and Naruto was not in his normal frame of mind. This was a fight for his life, and he simply acted.

Grabbing his foe's long, tangled hair, he pulled her head back harshly, before smashing her face into the ground with all his strength and weight, a sickening crunch echoing through the clearing. He repeated this again, and again, before finally stopping and standing up abruptly.

His breathing was harsh and labored, and his mind began to slowly come out of his adrenaline high. For a moment, he stared at the smaller child, waiting for any sign of movement, tensing, or some other tells that would signal for the battle to resume, but it never came, and just like that, it was over, the entire exchange lasting no more than 15 seconds.

Letting out a slight breath, the full impact of the situation came crashing down on him.

'**The girl**,' he thought furiously, '**oh Kami, did I kill her**?'

Creeping forward once more, his legs trembling from his recent and intense exertions, as well as fear and apprehension of what his actions may have wrought, he knelt next to the other blonde, and gently turned her over.

He winced, his stomach threatening to relinquish its last meal. It wasn't pretty. Her nose was broken, nearly crushed, and had sunken into her face a good deal giving her a slightly demented, almost skull-like appearance. The rest of her face was smeared with dirt and her own blood mixed together in a thick, disgusting paste, and anything that wasn't covering was turning an unflattering purple or brown. Her forehead had a huge gash across it lengthwise, most likely from some stray root or rock on the ground. It was jagged and uneven, and if one looked closely enough, they could make out the gleaming white of bone under the red of blood.

The damage was horrifying on the face of such a beautiful child, more so when he remembered that he had caused the injuries with his own hands, deliberately. Were Evangeline a normal girl, her skull would have fractured on the first hit, been crushed on the second, and Naruto would have gotten his first kill by the third.

But Evangeline was not a normal girl, she was a Shinso, and what's more, she had just feed.

The natural resiliency and regenerative abilities of her species shone through as her torn and bruised flesh slowly but visibly knitted back together before Naruto's eyes, restoring her face to normalcy.

Naruto felt relief as he saw her heal, used to such sights from his own personal experiences. He sat down next to the girl while ripping a small part of his shirt to use as a rag, and gently mopped her face to clean off the worst of the dirt and grime, before waiting.

It never once went through his mind to abandon the strange girl who had just tried to kill him.

XXXXXXXXXX

The return to the waking world for Evangeline was a long, painful, and confusing one. Images of her previous life flashed through her mind's eye in seemingly random order. Memories best left forgotten:

_She was 5 years old and happy. Today was her birthday. She knew it was, her maid had told her so. That meant today was _her _day; she could do whatever she wanted. She could play outside instead of being cooped up in her room learning Latin and boring etiquette lessons or whatever they were. She could eat any food she wanted; her maid said she would even make her some sweets. Yes, today was her day, and she was happy, even more so when she spotted her Mother walking down the hall._

_ 'Mommy,' she thought cheerfully, 'she came back home for my birthday.' _

_ Both her parents were usually busy, and had little time or desire to be with her, but today was a special day._

_ "Mommy," she squealed, racing down the hallway, her bare feet slapping loudly against the stones, "Mommy you're here!"_

_ She wrapped her small arms around her Mother's left leg excitedly._

_ Her Mother staggered slightly, caught off guard by her surprise attack, before glancing down, an annoyed expression on her face._

_ "Evangeline, what do you think you are doing?"_

_ Evangeline, surprised at her Mother's reaction, released her and backed away slightly._

_ "Mommy?" she answered, unsurely._

_ "Why in the world are you running about the manor barefoot and screaming, like some common plebian?" _

_ Her Mother's expression was severe, with clear distaste on her face._

_ "M . . .mommy?" Evangeline stuttered, her heart twisting slightly. This wasn't supposed to be how _her_ day went._

_ "And why aren't you with your tutor right now? You aren't skipping your lessons are you?" Her gaze suddenly sharpened._

_ "N-no m-mom," she attempted to answer before she was cut off._

_ "Madeline," her Mother interrupted, her interest in the matter already waning._

_ "Yes, mistress," Evangeline's attendant responded, walking briskly down the hall Evangeline had just come from._

_ "Take my daughter to her lessons for the day, and be sure to properly punish her for her outbursts."_

_ The woman bowed her head in submission, "Of course mistress."_

_ She reached down, placing a hand on Evangeline's shoulder. _

"_Come along young mistress, we have our duties," a slight apologetic light shining in her eyes._

_Evangeline glanced desperately at her Mother, "b-but Mother, today is my bir. . ." however, her Mother had already disappeared around the corner, ignoring or not hearing her voice._

_As Evangeline was escorted back to her room, it was the first time she could remember feeling empty._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_ She was 8 and wearing a magnificent white dress gown while walking toward the grand hall. Today was the annual harvest ball her family always threw to demonstrate their lands prosperity, and to show off their own power and prestige. As their daughter, she was expected to attend; after all, she too was a sign of their wealth. Evangeline came to a stop next to her Mother and Father at the entrance of the hall, waiting to be announced. Her parents spared her a glance for a moment, their eyes taking in her form, checking to make sure she was properly attired and displayed for their guests, before dismissing her in favor of looking towards the opening._

_ Though used to such behavior, Evangeline couldn't help but cringe at their blatant actions. No matter how often they ignored her, she always held out hope that someday they would see her more as a daughter then as a prized steed._

_ Lost in her own dark thoughts, she almost didn't notice when her parents stepped forward, their time to be announced having arrived. _

_ Quickly falling into step, she assumed a straighter posture, her head held higher, her steps elegant, purposeful, and her face schooled into an expression of cool disinterest. She looked every bit the dignified lady, just as she was trained to be._

_ As her name was called, following her parents, she descended gracefully into the crowd of awaiting nobility, filled with empty smiles and meaningless, petty chatter._

_ She felt cold._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_She was 7 and currently sitting in an overstuffed chair with only her sift on while waiting in her dressing room; her personal attendant and maid standing in front of her attentively, waiting._

_ "The blue one today, Madeline. Today feels like blue," Evangeline finally decided on a whim._

_ "Of course Mistress, just a moment," the woman already walking to her closet to find the dress she requested._

_ "And for breakfast, Mistress?" her maid prompted politely. _

_ Evangeline waved her hand absently, "anything will do."_

_ The maid curtsied silently, before dismissing herself, walking towards the kitchens._

_ Evangeline sat there for a moment, temporarily alone as her orders were being carried out with nary a question or comment._

_ She was waited on hand and foot, but she was not happy._

_ Just once she wished she had a real friend who would argue with her choice of outfits, or scold her for her unhealthy food preferences, or talk to her without fear of reprisal, or even just listen to her problems and insecurities while actually caring._

_ 'But no,' she thought sadly with a tinge of desperate longing, as her attendant returned with her clothing for the day._

_ 'All I have are servants and sycophants.'_

_ And as she got dressed, a melancholy smile remained fixed on her delicate features. _

_No one ever noticed._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_ She was 6 and there was a thunderstorm outside. Every flash of lightning and clap of thunder caused her to flinch deeper into her bed. _

_She was afraid, a little girl cowering in the dark, seeking comfort futilely from the lifeless embrace of her sheets._

_She wanted to go to her parent's chambers, to crawl into her Mother's arms to hide from the tempest, and feel the security of her Father's strong presence beside her. But she did not, such behavior was unsuitable to a girl of her station, that particular lesson had been pounded into her head often enough as it was._

_So she stayed in her bed, shivering in the darkness, as the storm raged outside._

_She was alone, and so her tears went unseen._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_She was 10, and once more it was her birthday. At the moment, she was cowering in the darkened corner of the room, desperately seeking shelter in the shadows from the burning sun._

_The pain, the unholy pain she had felt earlier when that golden light had struck her pale skin transcended anything she thought possible. It felt as though her very soul were being immolated, as if she had been cast into the pit of the damned, cursed to burn for the rest of eternity by sulfurous hellfire. Not far from the truth actually._

_As it were, the yelling and screeching of her parents was but a distant background in the whirling torrent of confusion and agony that filled Evangeline's mind._

_She hardly heard the hurled insults of disgust and revulsion for what she had become, the screaming accusations of the betrayal of her family and her Lord and savior, or even the threats to her life._

_Nothing could penetrate the haze her mind was in, save for one sentence her Father had uttered before he left her room:_

"_You are no daughter of mine."_

_It was so simple, and far less insulting than some of the other pejoratives he had thrown around earlier. Only six words, said at a completely normal volume, as compared to his previous comments, but the contempt in his voice and on his face, the sincerity with which he said it, and the utter finality of it, made her heart feel as though it had been shattered._

_It hurt; she grasped her chest vainly in an attempt to soothe the pain, if only a little. _

_It hurt; all the past slights of her parents, and all those lonely nights and loveless days never came close to this agony. Even the soul searing pain of sunlight couldn't come close to this._

_It hurt; it hurt so badly._

_Evangeline glanced across the room where a full-length mirror stood, and the eyes of a monster stared back, damning her forever._

_An inhuman wail of loss, grief, and rage echoed throughout the manor for an endless moment._

_It would be the last time she ever saw her parents._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline awoke suddenly, the remnants of her scream still echoing through her mind, and burning her soul.

Pain, all she could feel was unending pain.

She blindly groped her arm seeking to discover the source of her agony, before cracking her eyes open slightly, only to be blinded by light.

Immediately, she scrambled backwards into the shade of a tree, an unthinking fear and loathing coursing through her for the sunlight that somehow managed to appear during her time spent in unconsciousness.

She attempted to stand to better retreat from her bane, but Shinso or not, one does not shake off a head injury easily, especially one as severe as hers.

She immediately tasted bile on the back of her mouth, as a wave of nausea and disorientation swept through her. She collapsed back to the ground, sunlight momentarily forgotten as she attempted to gain control over her motor functions and stomach once more.

After several minutes of panting, the nausea finally retreated and her head cleared enough for her to sit up slightly and reorient herself.

She was in a fairly large clearing in the forest, probably a camping sight for those highwaymen she had met last night. The shadow of the tree she had taken cover in was dark enough that it would provide adequate protection from the sun, for now.

Her eyes, however, eventually rested upon a golden haired boy sleeping in the open.

Rage once more flowed freely through her, she remembered. It was he, the vampire.

Her body tensed once more, adrenaline pumping through her veins, injuries forgotten once more. He was still here; she took in his prone form, he was defenseless now.

In that moment nothing else mattered to her, not the dull throbbing pain of her face, or the newer one of her arm, not the fact that she was just abandoned by her family, or that she was in mortal danger of being immolated by the sun. Only he existed, and her desire to end him.

Her eyes raked over him as she prepared once more to end his life. She took in the form of her soon to be victim: his blood-soaked tattered white shirt with the strange leaf-like marking on it, his rich, tanned skin that spoke of long days in the sun, with three pairs of what appeared to be whisker marks on his face, and his strange feral looking golden-blonde hair that shone in the morning sunlight.

Wait. Sunlight?

Her eyes locked on, once more, to his hair, which glimmered slightly in the soft light of dawn.

For a moment, she merely stared, her entire system too shocked to react, before collapsing to the ground in a boneless heap. Whether from shame, shock, or disappointment, she did not know.

He wasn't a vampire, not if he could stand the sun's touch. He wasn't the one that turned her.

Without the adrenaline pumping through her and the abrupt loss of purpose, she suddenly felt so tired and weak, the past few days exhaustion, and yesterday's injuries, catching up with her.

Once more she was just a lonely and lost little girl.

This also happened to be the moment Naruto decided to wake up. Impeccable timing really.

Despite his best efforts to ward off sleep, Naruto was still only a ten-year old boy, and thus unable to keep himself awake for the remainder of the night. Still somewhat addled from his uncomfortable sleeping position and late-night excitement, Naruto merely stared at the blood soaked girl in front of him uncomprehendingly before the metaphorical light bulb went off.

"**You're alive!"**

Lunging forward abruptly, his joy at her survival temporarily over-riding the small amount of common sense he managed to maintain throughout the years, Naruto attempted to hug the girl. Attempted being key, because of the girls rather alarmed and frantic dodging of the leaping boy, believing it to be an attack.

And Naruto, in his typical fashion, somehow managed to trip in midair on literally nothing, and go crashing head first into the tree, which Evangeline was sitting under, in a rather comical fashion, defusing what could have been another unfortunate repeat of their earlier fight, into a rather bemusing spectacle.

Evangeline merely looked on Naruto's now twitching form, unsure if she should feel amusement, irritation, or worry.

Recovering quickly from his earlier blunder, Naruto stood in a huff, **"What was that for?" **he demanded**.**

Evangeline blinked, all thoughts of violence momentarily forgotten. "What did you say?"

Evangeline, being raised in nobility was by no means uneducated. Ever since she could walk, she had been instructed in all things needed and expected of a proper lady, one of which was language. Unfortunately these languages did not extend beyond the European continent. So while she was currently fluent in English, French, and Latin, and passable in German and Spanish, she had absolutely no knowledge of the orients and the tongues spoken there, which led to the rather interesting and frustrating situation they were currently in.

Naruto stared at the girl, uncomprehendingly. 'What is she, an idiot? Doesn't she know how to speak properly?'

Naruto, as opposed to Evangeline, had absolutely no concept of foreign languages, the reason being that there _were_ no foreign languages in the elemental nations. Everyone spoke the same language regardless of location, ethnicity, or nationality, and therefore he simply had no experience or knowledge of being unable to communicate with another person, it was an alien idea. Naruto, thus, lacked the proper tools to even understand the basic problems he was about to face. But, Naruto, if nothing else, was adaptable.

Evangeline tried once more to bridge the gap before them, "Do you know English?" she enunciated, slowly.

Naruto continued to give her a blank look.

"What about French? Latin? German? Spanish?" switching between the respective languages, her voice getting more desperate with each word while Naruto's expression, if anything, only became more confused.

Sighing and slightly annoyed at the situation she found herself in, she then attempted a new tact.

"Evangeline," she pronounced clearly, omitting her last name just in case he heard of it before, pointing towards herself in the universal sign of self-identification.

This Naruto seemed to get.

Perking up at the chance to finally introduce himself, Naruto puffed out his chest proudly while jabbing his thumb towards it, "**Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo**!"

Evangeline looked at the boy bemusedly once more, cocking her head to the side as she tried out his supposed name, "Uzumaki Naruto . . . Dattebayo?"

What a peculiar name.

Naruto's eyes widened at his mistake, **"No, just Uzumaki Naruto."**

"Uzumaki . . . Naruto," Evangeline repeated slowly, eyeing the boy warily, didn't he know his own name. That would be just her luck, stuck in the middle of the woods with an amnesiac foreign vampire look alike.

Naruto nodded, a happy hum escaping his mouth.

Conversation, if it could be called that, lulled at this point. There really wasn't much else they could say, not in their current predicament. Questions would have to what until later.

Luckily, Naruto was able to once more break the tension, or more exactly, his stomach was.

With a loud rumble, more reminiscent of a wild beast than a child's stomach, Naruto made his hunger known to the world.

Scratching his head sheepishly and in mild embarrassment, Naruto looked over at Evangeline questioningly, putting her in a conundrum of sorts.

He appeared to want to forage for food, or perhaps seek help, but she was also sure, despite her earlier aggressive, and frankly, inhuman behavior, he did not suspect she was a vampire, a fact she wanted to conceal as best she could.

After thinking for a few moments she decided on a course of action.

Attempting to get up, she immediately collapsed once more to the ground, another wave of dizziness passing through her. It seemed as though her being injured was actually helpful in this case. She could not go out during the day.

Naruto, now concerned for the girl's health, knelt next to her and clumsily placed his hand on her forehead, as he had occasionally seen some mother's due back at Konoha.

Neither Naruto nor Evangeline were used to physical contact, both having rather isolated childhoods, making the whole experience rather awkward for both of them. Evangeline tensed initially at his unexpected contact, but after a few moments, relaxed slightly. His touch was warm to her chilled skin, and helped to soothe some of the remaining ache in her head. Almost subconsciously, she leaned towards his hands. It felt nice, to actually be touched by someone who cared about her, for her.

After a few moments with his hand on her forehead, Naruto chuckled sheepishly once more; he actually had no idea just why Mother's checked their children's forehead like that. He himself had never had a mother to explain it, nor had he ever been sick.

But seeing as though she was fine now, and in no immediate danger, he once more returned to his feet, standing unsurely in front of her, not quite sure how to proceed, it didn't feel right to just leave her there.

Evangeline, on the other hand was tired, and merely wanted a little time to rest. Waving her hand towards the edge of the clearing, she gave him permission to go.

Smiling uncertainly at the girl, Naruto headed off into the woods to attempt to find . . . something, hopefully.

As Evangeline watched him disappear in the trees, she delicately placed a hand on her forehead where he had touched her, a considering look appearing on her face.

'Uzumaki Naruto, huh.'

And for the first time since she had changed three days ago, Evangeline A.K. McDowell smiled. Perhaps now she wasn't quite as alone as she thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As it turned out, despite a lack of any wilderness survival skills whatsoever, he had skipped that week in the Academy, Naruto was able to find some food for them. Unfortunately the total amount of calories expended to find the food probably doubled what they had to offer, but Naruto was used to hunger and hardship. He was a survivor.

It was early November in Northern Ireland, and as a result, quite frigid. Leaves had long since lost their green colors, fading into reds and yellows, and then eventually into browns. Animals no longer prowled the forests, but burrowed into the warmth of the Earth to wait out the coming winter. The forest was entering hibernation, and pickings were slim.

Hours of searching and wandering had yielded only a handful of old berries for Naruto, whose edibility was questionable at best. Life in the wilderness was harsh, Man congregated for a reason. With numbers comes security from predators, hunger, and the elements. A pair of untrained children, human or not, stood little chance of surviving in the wilderness so far from civilization, more so when one considered the coming frost.

Nevertheless, Naruto took to the situation with the good cheer Evangeline began to expect of him. He had remarkably little concern as to where he was, and why he had suddenly awoken in the forest in the presence of a somewhat unstable and homicidal girl. Konoha was no home to him, and he had no family, friends, or even amiable acquaintances to go back to. He had frequently considered simply running away from the village, if only to see if the rest of the world would treat him similarly to how the villagers did. However, every time he reached the great towering gates of Konoha he would pause, not out of some twisted sense of loyalty, or the belief that he could overcome the villager's hatred for him, but out of fear. Out there was the unknown, in Konoha he at least knew what to expect and had a roof over his head. Out there, however, out there was, well, he wasn't sure, and that was the problem. And so he hesitated, more times than he could count, standing at the boundary of what he had known all his life, and each time he would turn back, feeling a little smaller, a little more subdued. Better the evil you know then the one you didn't.

Therefore, it was actually a welcome change to have the matter seemingly forced upon him, no longer did he have to flounder at the gate and feel disgust at himself for being unable to take that one last step forward. Now he had no choice, now he was finally free of Konoha, and, for better or for worse, he was here to stay.

As Naruto, who had returned a couple of minutes earlier after a few hours scavenging, continued to babble on regardless of his being understood or not, Evangeline observed him closely.

He was a strange boy that was for sure. She didn't know what quite to make of him. She would guess him to be a serf, because of his tanned skin, denoting long hours in the sun, but his clothes, as bloody and simple as they were, were of fairly good quality and didn't appear to be the homemade rags most peasants wore. He was seemingly foreign, as per his lack of understanding of English, but how could a child arrive in the middle of the forest with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They were miles and miles away from even the nearest town, what could a foreigner possibly be doing alone all they way out here? Especially one so ill prepared.

But what most troubled her were his eyes. Even though she was now sure he wasn't a vampire like her, something about him still put her on edge. It wasn't anything too definite, the small bearing of his teeth whenever he was frustrated or excited exposing slightly too long and sharp canines, the casual grace with which he walked, or prowled more like, across the clearing even if he did have a slight penchant for clumsiness, and the way the few birds and wild life that still remained in the area seemed to still whenever he passed as though they feared him as a predator, much like they did her. There was something decidedly off about Uzumaki Naruto, something not quite human.

**"Eva-chan?"**

Evangeline blinked slightly in surprise as she saw Naruto suddenly standing in front of her.

"**Are you alright?"**

The language problem was becoming extremely irritating, more so because Naruto never seemed to shut his mouth, a constant stream of comments always spewing from him, which she didn't even need to understand to know were completely asinine and mostly just talking for the sake of talking. However, the concern in his voice was clear, so she merely smiled.

Seeing that the girl, Eva, was fine once more, Naruto handed her half the berries, which she took with reluctance. Ever since her change, she had never actually tried to eat regular food again. She was a vampire, blood was her sustenance. Looking down at the berries in her hand, she had to admit they certainly didn't look appetizing, but that could be more the berries' fault than her change in appetite, they were rather shriveled and old looking.

'Still,' she thought, 'it wouldn't hurt to taste. Maybe I don't even need blood.'

On that hopeful note, she proceeded to pop a single berry into her mouth and chew, before abruptly spitting the thing out, in a spray of partially masticated goo, directly into the face of Naruto, who happened to be sitting directly across from her happily eating his own meager share.

A moment of absolute silence fell between the two. Naruto, his face now covered in berry juice and spit, and Evangeline, whose expression was a mix of embarrassment and amusement, stared at each other. But as with all quiet times with Naruto, the moment didn't last long. An expression of uttermost indignation and disbelief painted Naruto's face, causing some of the goo coating him to drip off and fall onto the ground, and Evangeline could hold it in no longer. And as Naruto proceeded to dance around and sputter out accusations at Evangeline, all the while futilely trying to wipe off the sticky mess that covered him, Evangeline laughed for the first time in a very long while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And so the days passed, Naruto going out in an attempt to scavenge some food together during the day, his efforts only rarely producing something more substantial than a handful of berries and sometimes a small animal, and Evangeline waiting meekly in the shadow of a tree during day, still protesting illness to get out of work, rarely moved even at night, growing weaker with each passing day from hunger and near constant exposure to indirect sunlight. She had contemplated perhaps moving on, even leaving Naruto behind, but quickly abandoned the idea. The only place she could go would be a nearby village, and with her eyes and aversion to sunlight, as well as her dietary needs, she doubted she would be able to stay long or at all.

But most of all, she was afraid. Afraid of other peoples reactions to her true nature, afraid of what she might do when she met another human, and afraid to perhaps loose the only companion she ever really had, Naruto. She was just a girl, lost and fearful of the world around her hiding in the shadow of a tree for refuge, so she stayed, even as she grew weaker.

Everyday Naruto would give Evangeline some food, and everyday Evangeline would try some only to spit it back out, regardless if it was fruit or meat, even animal blood seemed unpalatable. She was so hungry, and so tired. And as she grew weaker Naruto grew progressively more worried.

There was something different about Eva, besides the whole trying to kill him the moment they met thing, and her seeming inability to hold down food of any kind. He couldn't quite quantify it. It wasn't quite a smell, nor a sensation that he detected though it had feelings of both. It was elusive, almost like seeing a movement out of the corner of your eye, only to be meet with an empty room when you turned around. It was actually rather disconcerting and uncomfortable, and set his teeth on edge. Something was definitely off about her, but Eva-chan was his friend, and Uzumaki Naruto stuck by his friends, believe it.

He also had the rather endearing and wearying habit of blurting out whatever was on his mind.

"**What's wrong with you Eva-chan?" **

In addition to a rather short and selective memory, which promptly forgot any information he deemed unimportant or irrelevant, such as their inability to properly communicate with each other.

Evangeline, for her part, merely ignored the now commonplace outburst of incomprehensible language from the boy in front of her.

Frowning slightly at the slight, Naruto nevertheless persisted.

"**Eva-chan,"** he said gently, reaching out and gently shaking her shoulder, **"Eva-chan are you okay?"**

Evangeline blinked once, seemingly coming out of a trance, before gazing at Naruto's face. His concern was evident even in the darkened shadows of twilight, and though somewhat touching, it was also slightly annoying to her frayed nerves, couldn't he leave her alone?

Evangeline merely gave a dismissive wave of her hand, shrugging off Naruto's friendly grip.

But Naruto was persistent, something was clearly wrong with her. Once more he gripped her shoulders, slightly more forcefully, **"Eva-chan what's the matter with you, why won't you eat anything?"**

Evangeline simply glared at him, "Let go of me."

The words that left her mouth were not spoken very loudly, indeed they were little above a whisper, but the intent and force behind them were clear. It was a command, ignored at his peril.

But he would not be denied, **"Tell me!"**

In an instant, Evangeline's hand flashed in an arc, intent on removing the offending hand on her shoulder. Naruto just managed to back away to avoid serious injury, though, once again, not quite quick enough, as her fingernails parted the skin on his wrist allowing for a small drop of crimson liquid to fall out and splash quietly on the dirt.

Naruto fell backwards in a heap, his heart pounding at the sudden attack on his person once more. He eyed Evangeline warily, but she was no longer paying attention to him, instead her sole focus was on the little wet patch of dirt, about a foot away from her, dyed a dark brown.

Her nostrils flared unconsciously, in anticipation, her eyes dilated and her vision enhanced to near perfection. Any lingering weakness and pain she felt from the previous days of attrition faded.

Slowly, almost eerily, she turned her sight from the dirt, to Naruto's wrist, where a single drop of red clung tenaciously to his already healed wound.

Blood.

The smell was in the air, intoxicating, overwhelming. Already she could feel her thoughts slipping from her, her body tensing in anticipation for the hunt, just as she hunted those highwaymen from before.

She could once more could hear the sounds of the screams of those foolish robbers as they scrambled away from her futilely, she could see the crimson liquid as she carelessly sliced into their necks, and she could feel the delicious heat and wetness as blood trickled across her skin, but most of all she could remember the looks of horror and terror forever frozen on their visages as she bit into them, their last gasping word leaving their body, 'monster.'

And, just as suddenly as the bloodlust fell upon her, so, too, was it dispelled, and with an inhuman exercise of will she turned away from Naruto.

'I refuse,' she thought firmly, 'I refuse to give into my instincts. I may need blood to live, but never again will I become an animal.'

For millennia, in the heart of Africa, man crawled about on the dirt and huddled in caves. Mankind was not particularly strong or fast. They were hunted more often than they hunted. Sickness and hunger, injuries and hypothermia finished off far more members of the species than old age ever could begin to. We were so young and weak then, and dangers appeared everywhere, but we had a spark, a small flame that began to separate man from other creatures.

It was partially intelligence, but not solely, for other creatures also possessed that quality, if not to the same degree, and in the beginning we were not as advanced in intellect as we are today. What distinguished us most of all was a drive to know, even in the face of potential dangers, and to understand, if only because it's there.

It's that small push that allowed man to wander out in the world to discover and learn, instead of staying huddled in our caves forever an animal. That desire to know, to question, and to expand our horizons and lift ourselves off of the dirt we crawl upon, and above the petty beasts and origins we spawned from.

It was curiosity that allowed man to look upon fire, and instead of fleeing like every other being, approach it, learn from it, and grow.

It is human to be curious, and curiosity, more persistent and illogical than any other animals, is the trait that sets us apart from others and drives us to the extent of our potential.

It is understandable, therefore, when Naruto felt curious as to _why _Evangeline suddenly, or perhaps continuously, acted so hostile towards him, and, again, one can sympathize, if not agree, when Naruto then, counter to any logic and sense of self-preservation he should probably possess, proceeded to plough on ahead, heedless of any further danger to his person, in order to learn why. It's human nature after all with a touch of Naruto thrown in.

Slowly approaching Evangeline once more, not seeing what else he could do at this point, albeit with more wariness then before, Naruto again reached out and lightly grabbed her hand, whether it was to prevent her from striking out again or merely to reassure her, even he wasn't too sure.

Startled once more from her ponderings, she really had to stop zoning out so often, Evangeline glanced upwards at Naruto's confused but still worried face. He no longer attempted to speak to her, any words between the two were meaningless, and instead he merely looked into her eyes, his expressive face asking his unspoken question, "are you alright?"

It was all so new and disorienting, her change, her instincts, and now Naruto. For days she had been holding herself back, vainly in the end, if only to hold onto her one companion in the world for just a little longer, even if he was annoying, and loud, and never shut-up even when she couldn't understand him, and overly protective of her, he was still her friend, the first and only one she had. So she decided, with a heavy heart, that she would tell him . . . err . . . show him what she was, and let the dice fall where they would.

With slow deliberateness, she reversed Naruto's grip on her wrist, and brought it to her mouth. For a moment she gazed at the small drop of red that still clung to his now healed wound, it called to her, and with one last look at Naruto, she leaned forward slightly and licked.

Pure ecstasy flooded her nerves.

The blood she tasted was delicious, rich, yet delicate, a perfect blend of flavors and tangs. Yet at the same time there was an underlying tone of feral power that flooded her body in pleasure. Evangeline could only imagine, through the slight fog of pleasure, just how amazing the blood was fresh from the source.

And with that thought, one drop was not enough, nowhere near enough. Her body felt so weak, it needed sustenance, and after that teasing taste, she no longer had the will to deny herself.

Meanwhile, Naruto watched Evangeline, as her face fell into an expression of utter bliss, with a small-pleased smile on his face even if he was somewhat bemused by her fixation on blood. Already she looked better than she had in days, if still a little sickly. So he wasn't too surprised when Evangeline began to advance on him once more, albeit at a more leisurely pace then when she usually attacks him. Her eyes were hooded, and in the fading light, almost seemed to glow an unnerving red.

Now Naruto never was the sharpest kunai in the set, and he realized that, but even he could figure out at this point that Eva was different from a regular person. The fact that she appeared to eat blood instead of regular food was a little surprising but not all that startling of a revelation. It actually explained all of her spitting episodes earlier, which slightly ameliorated his ire with her over having his face routinely covered with saliva. Just a little bit. Besides he had seen people walk up walls, breath fire from their mouths, and walk around in broad day-light wearing animal masks of all things, drinking blood wasn't too big of a deal in his book.

So as she advanced on him, looking much like he imagined he did when a fresh bowl of ramen was placed in front of him, he tried not to run away in sheer terror all the while screaming, she was his friend after all. He was mostly successful, but no one could ever prove he let out a girlish "eep." No one.

The first time Evangeline had tasted blood she had not been in her right mind. Half starved, overwhelmed by exhaustion, fear, and bloodlust, her actions were purely instinctual, and she felt only the basest of emotions in her clouded state: anger, hatred, and hunger. When she consumed the blood of her would-be captors, she barely processed the taste beyond the fact that it was good and invigorating.

The second time, but a few seconds ago, while powerful and intoxicating, was but a single drop, a mere instant that was over before she could truly appreciate fully the taste and texture.

Now, though, now that she actually had a moment to pause and thoroughly savor it, she found the taste . . . difficult to describe. The English vernacular held no words or comparisons that could do it justice, because nothing could truly compare. It wasn't merely physical, for the word "taste" was nowhere near encompassing enough to hold the totality of the experience. It went beyond that, and into the realm of sensation, and almost to the spiritual. 'Ambrosia', is what she first thought, for truly this was the drink of the gods. Liquid fire, pure power, poured down her throat, its intensity robbing her of her ability to think clearly, and for a time she floated in the sensation, in pleasure so intense it boarded on agony. As it filled her, she felt her worries and pains leave her, as though she was elevated above such petty concerns, above the base Earth, a fog was cleared and she could think once more. She was a Shinso, and blood held a siren's call sweeter than any she could imagine or ever thought existed.

She had no idea how long she drank, it could have been a minute, or an hour, or even a year, it made no difference really, time had no meaning to her then.

Slowly, however, ever so slowly, reality began to return to her senses, and she found herself straddling a now blushing, most impressive considering how much blood she must have just taken from him, and slightly disoriented Naruto.

Blushing herself at the rather compromising and intimate position they were now in, she quickly dismounted Naruto in a rush, pushing her back against her familiar tree.

It took Naruto a moment longer to realize Evangeline had finished her meal. Sitting up again slowly, making sure not to move too quickly so as not to exacerbate his dizziness, Naruto looked across to Evangeline somewhat awkwardly, after all its not every day a cute girl pushes you onto the ground, proceeds to straddle you, and then give you a hickey.

Luckily, fate, it seemed, had plans for the two as a single drop of ice-cold water trickled down Evangeline's back.

Gasping slightly at the abrupt chill, Evangeline, eager for anything to break the uncomfortable silence that had now descended on the two, questioningly wiped at her back, her fingers coming away moist with water.

Evangeline speculatively held out her small hand while Naruto watched curiously, and a single delicate snowflake drifted lazily onto it, visible for but a moment, before melting into another small drop of water.

Winter was coming, and with it the need to leave the forest.

_A.N. Now that they know a little about each other, we can finally move out of the damn woods. That scene took so long to write and even now I don't really like it. I probably would have gotten this out a month earlier without it._


End file.
